Like the title i'm going to look at a 1997 ZJ tomorrow. Jeep came from florida so theres almost no rust (i live in upstate ny). It has 87k on it and has had the np242 transfer case swap. Anything i should pay attention too when im looking it over other than the basics? I'm a Ford tech so i'm not all that familiar with these. Thanks!

1) Steering and suspension!! With only 87K that may not be a huge problem, but 15 years in the salt air and the bushings could all be cracked and at the end of their life. These cars don't use a rack and pinion steering system, so any play in the steering could indicate a problem with the steering box.
3) Death wobble. Read up about death wobble before you drive it and feel for early signs of it.
4) Make sure you're able to test drive it all the way up to highway speed and listen for any sound that would indicate the rear end is needing work.
5) Overheating - watch for overheating in stop/start traffic
Do not do a short test drive. Get this car all the way up to operating temperatures.

The steering box isn't really an issue. It's the fact he has a drop pitman arm on it that has to be removed, this leads me to think he is also probably running stock steering so he'll need to drop a few hunred on a Currie system or equivalent. Rims need to be swapped for 8" wide ones so you can actually air down.

You don't need the DPA on a ZJ, they actually sell the ZJ version as a drop fro other models.

It is a bolt in replacement for the stock stuff. I bent my steering with 33s and my buddy did too. No issues with CUrrie yet, well worth the price IMO. If you do buy the Jeep, post some pictures of the front steering setup and we can help better.

personally i would run from that one. i will NEVER buy any vehicle thats been lifted by the PO. you dont know if they did it right. and since its lifted, its probably been driven to hell and back offroad. try to find a stocker being sold by some old retirees.